


I'll Make This Feel Like Home

by Bearandleonardwrite



Series: I'll look after you [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Anyways, Comeplay, Felching, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Riding, Rimming, Snowballing, Top Louis, but not of anyone in the fic, none of them have been in any of this though, obviously, so i guess, that resulted in death, that was stupid erika, there's a car accident described that happened like 15 years ago, uhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:00:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5353214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearandleonardwrite/pseuds/Bearandleonardwrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis starts his three month trial period. Everything goes great. That is, until Harry finds out.</p><p>(Basically; Louis does great, Zayn throws a fit, Harry gets upset. Everyone yells, someone gets slapped, and Louis finds out why Harry hates Christmas.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Home bc that song makes me cry.  
> Third part of this series. The fourth will be up sometime around Christmas. It's a Christmas fic and there is zero angst. Can you believe? Amaze.  
> You should probably read the rest of the series before you read this. Which is [here.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3554810)  
> Anyways, hope you like this!  
> 

Harry giggles as he sets down the last box by the coffee table. Louis' laying in the middle of the floor, boxes piled all around him, groaning and glaring up at the ceiling. "I am never moving again. That was awful." He kicks his leg out and then yelps when his shin hits the leg of the coffee table; it just makes Harry giggle harder. 

"C'mon, Lou, it wasn't that bad," Harry soothes. He peers down at Louis and, when Louis nudges at the back of his leg, kneels down to straddle his stomach. "At least we didn't have to move any furniture."

Louis runs his hands up and down Harry's thighs, but keeps staring at the ceiling. "True. It was still awful, though. It's amazing that as soon as you move, you don't have friends anymore. I don't believe for a second that Liam went to the dentist. It's Saturday."

Harry falls forward on his hands, face hovering over Louis', and kisses his nose when Louis finally looks at him. "Niall told me he'd rather watch the Liverpool game than help us move."

"Well that's just rude," Louis says indignant. "We need new friends."

"At least he was honest. Don't know why anyone would want to watch now that Stevie G's gone, though." 

"Masochist, probably. Also, Mignolet.”

Harry nods solemnly and leans down to peck Louis on the lips once. "It was worth it, right?" He can't help but ask. 

Louis cups Harry's face and looks him in the eyes. "Of course it was. I'd do it all over again if I had to. Even with the furniture," he tacks on for good measure. When Harry nods he kisses him, slow and gentle, then pats him on the bum. "Alright, let's get all this shit unpacked so we can have a proper cuddle. Preferably somewhere that won't hurt me back."

***

When Zayn and Liam come back the next night, conveniently after all the unpacking has been finished, they all have dinner together squeezed around their little kitchen table. Liam had brought take out from Louis' favorite Thai place as a sort of apology for lying. Louis thinks it's more of an apology for coming up with such a shit lie, not because he actually lied. 

"So," Zayn says as Liam starts cleaning up. "All your stuff is moved in, then?" 

"Yup, no thanks to you." Louis' still a bit bitter, clearly. 

"Don't be a dick, Lou." Louis just rolls his eyes so Zayn sighs and continues. "Anyways, we thought since you're all moved in we should do like a proper house warming or something. Harry and I never had one, so it could be nice." 

"Why? The only other person I'd invite is Niall, so I don't really see the point." 

"I guess. But I thought you could invite your mum and your sisters to come down."

Harry frowns and looks down at the table. They've never talked about him meeting Louis' family, which seems kind of weird now that he thinks about it. He's talked to Louis' mum on the phone a couple of times, gets on with her well, but they never had a conversation about when Harry would meet them. 

"Yeah, that would be nice, I think. Maybe wait a couple months, so I'm settled, y'know?" Louis says with a pointed look directed at Zayn. 

"Oh, right. Yeah that makes sense," Zayn says and clears his throat. "I guess we can set it for a few months out and that way you can make sure your mum gets the time off."

Louis huffs a breath and crosses his arms over his chest. "No, I'd really rather not. Need to be sure it's actually going to happen, right?" 

Harry is very confused. This doesn't make sense. Liam's trying to find something else to do now that he's finished cleaning up and he looks uncomfortable. And that makes Harry uncomfortable. "Maybe we should talk about something else," Liam says hopefully. 

"Yeah, I agree with Liam. I'm confused and you guys are being weird." Harry looks between Louis and Zayn a couple times and then shakes his head. "I think I'm actually just gonna go revise." 

Harry gets up from the table and walks down the hall, hears Liam's, "well, now look what you've done. Fix it you idiots." Harry doesn't really care, he's not upset or anything. He just doesn't like tension, doesn't know how to deal confrontation so he prefers to remove himself from the situation. 

And he's glad he did, really, because now Zayn and Louis are yelling and he doesn't understand. At all. They always got along, so it doesn't make sense. Harry just closes his door and turns on his music while he revises for his world cultures class. 

He's halfway through the chapter when the bedroom door opens and Zayn peeks his head around the corner. "Hey, babes. You alright?"

Harry just shrugs and goes back to the chapter. "Yeah, fine, but you know how I feel about fighting. I'd really prefer it if you didn't." 

Zayn sighs and walks into the room, sits on the bed facing Harry. "Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry. I don't know why he got so upset. Well, like, I do, but if I knew he was going to then I wouldn't have said anything."

"That's fine, but you still didn't have to engage. You could've stopped." He shrugs again and chews on his lip a bit. "He could have, too, but he doesn't know me like you do. He doesn't know that it upsets me that much." 

"I know that. I should have stopped. And I definitely shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry." Zayn crawls up the bed and pulls Harry into a hug. "You're okay, though, yeah?" 

Harry nods into his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't that bad, so it didn't really affect me all that much."

"Okay, good. I'll try to keep the arguing to myself." Harry smiles at him when he pulls away from the hug so Zayn smiles back and ruffles his hair. 

"Where's Lou by the way? He didn't leave did he?" 

Zayn shakes his head, says, "Nah, he took a shower to calm down or something. I'm sure he'll be in in a minute." He kisses Harry on the forehead and then leaves, letting Harry finish his revising. 

Harry's finished the chapter and is starting his god forsaken forensics worksheet when Louis comes in freshly showered, skin still pink from the hot water. "Hey, baby," he says sheepishly as he walks over to the bed. He picks up Harry's books and the worksheet then sets them on the bedside table before straddling Harry's lap. 

He runs his hands up Harry's chest, digs his fingertips in a bit, then plays with pendent on Harry's necklace. "I'm sorry. I don't- I shouldn't have done that. He was trying to be nice and I didn't need to get snippy. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable." Louis' staring down at the necklace, twisting it between his fingers. He doesn't want to look at Harry because he doesn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes. 

Harry knocks their foreheads together. "Yeah, you really shouldn't have, but it's okay. I mean, it's not okay that you did that, but I forgive you. I really don't like yelling," he tacks on because that's probably something Louis needs to know. 

Louis nods and tugs on the chain a bit before releasing it. "I didn't know. I know no one really likes yelling, but I didn't know it was that big of a thing. I'll try not to do it again."

"Okay, that's all I can ask. Thank you." Harry pushes Louis' chin up till he looks at him. "I love you. I'm not upset, okay?"

Louis nods again and kisses Harry once. "I love you, too. Sorry to interrupt. Should I let you finish?"

"It's alright. I needed a break anyways. I should probably get back to it, though. Will you stay?" 

"Yeah, of course I will." He kisses Harry again and crawls off his lap only to sit next to him and cuddle him close. 

*** 

The first month is going pretty smoothly, Louis thinks. Unless you count his constant bickering with Zayn. They manage to keep from doing it when Harry's around, though. Liam's getting tired of it, they can both tell, but it doesn't stop.

Louis doesn't really know why they keep arguing. He is a bit upset about them constantly watching him like he's going to mess up, which he _hasn't_ and he _isn't_. But he doesn't know why Zayn's so weird around him. They've known each other for years, since they went to art school together, and they've never had this much tension between them. 

He's been thinking a lot about his mum and sisters meeting Harry ever since Zayn brought up. It's kind of weird he hasn't introduced them yet, especially because he talks about Harry every time he talks to them. He wants them to meet, he really does, so he decides to ask them to come up in a couple months, maybe for Harry's birthday, regardless of whether or not the trial period goes well. He just hopes Harry will want to. 

 

When Harry gets home from his classes, Louis' sitting on their couch flipping through channels on the tv. "Hey, baby. How was school?" He asks as Harry drops his book bag by the door. 

"It was alright. Kind of confusing, though. I hate forensics." He walks over to the couch and flops down next to Louis, rests his head in Louis' lap and hums happily when Louis cards his fingers through his hair. "I wish it wasn't a requirement for my degree."

"I'm sorry, love. Is there anything I can help you with? I mean, I'm probably shit at it, but I can quiz you or something."

Harry smiles up at him and closes his eyes. "Yeah, I'd like that. Thank you. Nap first."

Louis chuckles and gently works out some of the tangles in Harry's hair. "Alright. We can have dinner after you wake up." Harry hums again, but doesn't say anything, already drifting off. 

 

Harry sleeps for about an hour and a half, yawning cutely when he wakes up. Louis' not really sure how one yawns cutely, but Harry definitely does. "You're still playing with my hair," Harry slurs sleepily while he blinks his eyes open to stare up at Louis. 

Louis hums. "Yeah, I like your hair. It's soft. And you got these little springy bits," he says while he tugs gently on one of his curls. 

Harry smiles at him dopily and stretches before sitting. He kisses Louis, says, "hi, love. Sorry I fell asleep on you."

"'S alright. I don't mind," he says honestly. "You're cute when you sleep." 

"You're creepy. What do you want for dinner?" 

"Not creepy. I'm in love, Harold. Let me admire your beauty and cute little snuffles while you sleep." Louis pulls a face at himself because what. Harry's turned him into a giant sap, but he's smiling at him all soft and gentle so Louis thinks it's alright. "I dunno. Whatever you want."

Harry rolls his eyes but gets off the couch and goes to the kitchen. "You're helping," he calls. He pulls open the fridge and frowns. They really need to go shopping. "Uh, either we have eggs, or we call for pizza."

"Eggs is good," Louis says and wraps his arms around Harry's waist, chin digging into his shoulder. 

"Okay." He grabs the carton of eggs and opens it, frowning again when he sees there's only two left. "Pizza it is."

"I'll call. Veggie yeah?" Louis kisses his cheek and goes into the living room to get his phone and call. 

 

After they've eaten dinner and put the leftovers in the fridge, Harry grabs his book bag and makes his way over to the couch. He pulls out his forensics textbook and the exam practice sheet his instructor had given him. When Louis sits down opposite him, both of them leaning back against the armrests, he hands Louis both items. "So, the answers are already on the sheet since we went over it in class today. But if I'm super confused about something, will you mark it down so I can look it up later?"

Louis nods his head and looks down at the sheet. There are about twenty different terms Harry needs to learn and a few made up scenarios that ask for the COD and MOD, whatever that means, Louis thinks. He's thoroughly confused. 

He clears his throat and reads off the first question. "What's the difference between osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes?" 

Harry frowns for a moment while he thinks. "Uh, an osteoblast forms bones, an osteoclast breaks down the bone and creates liquid calcium. Uh, fuck," he says and furrows his eyebrows. "I think osteocytes are just mature bone cells. I don't know."

Louis looks at the sheet and reads over the definitions Harry had wrote on it. "Yeah, that's right. Osteocytes also maintain osteoid. So, I guess we'll do 'what's osteoid' next."

"Osteoid is unmineralized and organic that forms before the bone. It's what's secreted by the osteoblasts to form bone."

"That's right! And also gross. Look at you being all smart," Louis praises and pats at Harry's leg where it's stretched out next to him. He wraps his fingers around Harry's ankle and rubs his thumb over the bone there. 

Harry blushes and positively beams at Louis. "Thank you, Lou. I like it when you help me."

"Of course, baby. Whenever you want." He looks back down at the paper and wrinkles his nose at some of the terms. Even though he has no idea what most of them mean, they still sound gross. "Wanna go over all the bones?" Louis asks and wiggles his eyebrows obnoxiously. Harry giggles and starts listing off all of the bones, sometimes pointing to where they're located on his body. 

By the time Zayn and Liam walk in the door, they've nearly finished going over the review and Harry's so over it. And tired. "Lou," he whines. "Can we go to bed, now?" 

Louis looks up at him from where he was reading one of the made up scenarios. "Yeah, sure." He puts Harry's things back in his bag and gets up from the couch, pulling Harry up with him. 

They walk passed the kitchen on the way to the bedroom and say their good nights to Zayn and Liam who are currently eating the rest of the leftover pizza. When they get into their bedroom, they both strip and climb into bed, Harry on the left and Louis on the right. Louis pulls the blankets up for Harry to crawl under, then molds himself around Harry's body, his arm around Harry's waist and their legs tangled together. 

Harry links their fingers together over his stomach and turns his head to kiss Louis' other hand where it's sticking out from underneath the pillow. "Thank you, Lou. I really appreciate you helping me."

"'Course, baby. I don't mind at all. When's your exam?"

"First week of December. I'm so afraid I'm gonna fail. What if I fail?" 

Louis kisses his shoulder and squeezes his fingers. "Then you'll retake the course. Except I think your marks are high enough that even if you failed the exam, you'd still pass the class. And if you fail, which you won't, we'll sit in bed, watch awful romantic movies, and eat a pint of ice cream. But we're gonna study every day if we have to to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Thanks, Lou. I love you. A lot." Louis doesn't have to see him to know he's smiling, it's evident in his voice. 

"I love you, too, baby. Sleep now." He kisses Harry's shoulder again and rests his forehead between Harry's shoulder blades, closes his eyes. 

***

When the second week of December rolls around, Harry gets his grades for the semester and finds he passed everything. Even forensics. In fact, he's kept his 4.0 and Louis couldn't be prouder. On top of that, Liam had told him that if the next two months go as well as the first, then he's staying. And Louis is _definitely_ going to be staying. 

Louis also finds out that Harry hates Christmas. Like, truly detests it and he doesn't really understand why because it's supposed to be cheery and happy, just like Harry usually is. But apparently he doesn't see it that way. Every time he tries to ask him about it, though, Harry just shakes his head and tells him he'll explain it later. 

Louis' supposed to go see his family for the holiday, like he always does, except when he asks Harry to go with him he says no. He explains that, though, says he gets really mopey and depressed and doesn't want to be that way the first time he meets Louis' family. Louis definitely pouts about it, but Harry promises to go with him next year, and the fact that Harry is making long-term plans with him kind of makes up for the fact that he'll be missing him this time. 

Zayn and Liam, of course, already know how Harry feels about Christmas and stay with him while Louis leaves for home. He doesn't last three days before he goes back to Harry, misses him far too much. But he did manage to get his mum to agree to a visit in February, so Louis counts the trip as a win. 

As soon as he walks through the front door of their flat, he's met with an arm full of Harry. Harry jumps on him, legs around his waist and arms around his neck, and buries his face in his neck. "I missed you much," he says with a little sniffle. 

"Awh, baby," Louis coos. "I missed you, too. Had to come home early and everything." He walks them over to the couch, Harry clinging to him tightly, and sits down with Harry in his lap. "Where're the boys?"

"They're at Niall's. Apparently Niall talked them into having a mini New Year's party here so they're planning it or something." He shrugs and rests his head on Louis' shoulder. "I'm really happy you came back. Thank you. I love you."

Louis pets at his hair and kisses his forehead. "Of course I came back. I'll always come back. I promise. And I love you, too." 

Harry smiles at him and nuzzles into his neck. "Wanna tell me about your trip." 

"Nah, it's alright. Just normal family stuff." He shrugs. He knows Harry doesn't really know what 'normal family stuff' is, but he doesn't say anything about it. "I wanted to talk to you about something, though." 

"Oh?" Harry hums. 

"Yeah. So, I talked to my mum while I was there, obviously, and I asked her if her and the girls would come up for your birthday. She said she'd like that and she really wants to meet you. Is that- would that be okay?"

Harry nods happily into his neck. "Yeah, I'd really like that. I'm surprised we haven't met yet, actually. I want to. I'm sorry I didn't go with you."

Louis kisses his forehead to get rid of his frown. "I don't mind, baby. I understand. I'm not gonna make you do something you're uncomfortable with. Ever. And I don't want to upset you, either. I love you, yeah? And we have plenty of time for you to meet them. Forever really."

"I love you, too." Harry's quiet for a minute before he blurts, "We should have sex." 

Louis barks out a surprised laugh and scratches at Harry's scalp. "Yeah, I'm totally on board with that. But why do you say that all of the sudden?" 

"Well, for one I missed you. Actually, though, I just get really turned on when you talk long term." He's not kidding, either, he really likes knowing Louis plans on sticking around. In fact, he's already started to grind down onto Louis' lap. 

"Fuck," Louis swears quietly. "Should we talk about marriage, too?"

Harry actually _whines_ and grinds down harder. Fuck. "I don't know if you're taking the piss or not, but I don't really care. I just want you to fuck me now, please." He moans right into Louis' ear when he feels him starting to harden underneath him. 

"Fuck," Louis says again, eloquent as ever. "Yeah, baby, come on." He pats at Harry's hip, trying to get him up. 

"No, wanna do it here. Don't wanna wait." Harry pants into his ear. He leans back long enough pull his jumper over his head and tosses it to the ground before connecting their lips. Louis parts his lips when Harry licks out at them, swallows Harry’s moan when Louis sucks his tongue into his mouth. 

Harry slides his hands under Louis’ shirt and scratches at the hair on his chest a bit before he gets impatient and tugs Louis’ shirt over his head. He kisses at Louis’ neck while he runs his fingers over the padlock tattoo, humming happily against his skin. Louis grabs a fistful of Harry’s hair and tugs his head away from his neck, nips at his bottom lip, and licks his way back into his mouth. Harry scratches his nails down Louis’ chest making sure they catch briefly on his nipples, until he gets to the waistband of Louis’ jeans.

He pops the button and slides the zip down, then gets off Louis’ lap and falls gracelessly to his knees. After he tugs Louis’ jeans and pants down, he nudges his legs apart until he can sit comfortably in between and takes Louis’ cock into his hand. He strokes him a couple of times, licks around the tip, then wraps his lips around the head and sinks down. “Fuck,” Louis breathes, one hand dropping down to the back of Harry’s neck and the other petting at his curls.

Harry puts both of his hands on Louis’ hips, digs his fingernails in, and tugs him forward a bit. Louis gets it, of course he does, and starts to slowly thrust his hips up into Harry’s mouth. When he hits the back of Harry’s throat, Harry moans around him, relaxes his muscles, and slides his mouth down farther. He keeps going until his nose is buried in the fine hairs at the base of Louis’ cock and hums around him. “Jesus Christ,” Louis moans out.

The hand in his hair tightens as Louis pulls him off his cock. “I won’t last, baby,” he says breathlessly. Harry nods and stands up. He takes the rest of his clothes off before sticking his hand under the couch and pulling out a bottle of lube.

Harry hands the bottle to Louis as he straddles him again, grinds against him once and moans at the way their bare skin feels. “C’mon, Lou, hurry up. Need you. Please.” Louis nods and coats his fingers quickly before bringing his hand around and circling one of his fingers around Harry’s hole. His other hand grips at Harry’s hip, nails biting into the skin when he slides his finger in and feels the tightness around him. “Two, do two,” Harry pants and then nips at Louis’ bottom lip.

Louis pulls his finger out and slides two in, stretches them out a bit before he starts fucking them in and out of Harry. Harry digs his nails into Louis’ shoulder and buries his head in the crook of Louis’ neck. “Fuck, Lou,” he moans out, then sucks a mark into his skin. When he starts fucking back onto Louis’ fingers, Louis slips in a third, revels in the whine Harry lets out.

It doesn’t take long after that for Harry to start begging. “Lou, come on. Please. I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you. Please.” Louis slides his fingers out and makes quick work of slicking up his cock before he lines himself up at Harry’s hole. Harry doesn’t waste any time, just grips onto Louis’ shoulders and sinks down till his bum is resting against Louis’ thighs. He doesn’t wait long before he starts rocking his hips, either, making little figure eights and grinding down to take him in deeper.

Harry bites onto Louis’ shoulder as he lifts himself up and then sinks back down, starts to ride Louis properly. Louis tilts his head back and lets out a groan, his fingers digging into the skin on Harry’s hips. “God, Harry, you feel so good. Always feel so good.” Harry whines again and kisses over the mark he just made.

Louis starts to thrust up, meeting Harry’s hips when he rocks down. When Harry readjusts a bit, finds that spot that makes his skin tingle and his toes curl, they start to pick up the pace, Harry starting to bounce harder and faster, and grinding down every so often to try and get Louis in as deep as he can. “Lou, I’m close. Wanna come. Make me come.” Louis goes to move his hand to Harry’s cock but he shakes his head against his shoulder. “No, wanna come from just your cock. Don’t wanna touch.”

“Fuck, baby,” Louis groans. He slides his hands down around to Harry’s arse and squeezes, pulls Harry closer to him a bit. “Want you to come, too. Wanna feel you come, feel how tight you get.” Harry whines into his ear and clenches around him purposefully. “Oh, my god,” Louis grinds out.

“I think I’m gonna-“ Harry tries, but cuts off with another whine when Louis thrusts up just right and tugs on his hair. Harry’s close, so close, but of course that’s when the front door opens.

“I’m just saying, Liam- Oh my god!” Zayn shouts from the doorway. Harry burrows further into Louis’ neck and whines again, he doesn’t stop moving his hips, though. Louis doesn’t either. He just drops his head down to Harry’s shoulder and closes his eyes, holds onto Harry tighter.

“Why are they still going?” Liam nearly shouts. “Zayn! Why are you watching? Stop it!”

Harry would giggle at that, but he feels too good and ends up moaning out, “Fuck, Lou,” instead. He hears them walk by and as soon as he hears their bedroom door close, he says, “C’mon. Flip me over. Want you to make me come.”

Louis wraps one arm around Harry’s waist and keeps the other on his arse before he tips them over. He rests himself on his forearms as Harry’s legs wrap around his waist and then starts fucking into him hard and fast. Harry wiggles his hips a bit and then throws his head back and clenches his eyes shut. “Yeah, fuck. There,” he moans out. Louis keeps the angle and it doesn’t take long before Harry’s raking his nails down Louis’ back and clenching around him, whining high in the back of his throat as he comes between them.

“Oh, fuck,” Louis pants out. Harry tangles his fingers in Louis’ hair and pulls him down for a kiss, tongues tangling together. Louis only lasts a few more thrusts before he drops his head to Harry’s shoulder and bites down as he comes. They lay there for a moment, catching their breath. It’s about thirty seconds later when they hear a thumping against the wall by the couch. Harry cackles when he realizes what the noise is and he feels Louis smile against his shoulder as he says, “I am so never going to stop giving them shit for that.”

***

Niall bursts through the door on New Year’s eve with his arms full of liquor and junk food. “Let’s do this!” He yells into the flat. 

“Niall, we’re literally right here. You don’t have to yell,” Liam says from his spot on the couch. 

Niall just shrugs uncaring and walks to the kitchen to dump all of his bags on the counter. “I brought rum, beer, champagne for when we hit midnight, and that fruity shit H likes.” 

Harry bounds over to him and throws his arms around him, squeezes him tight. “Oh, Niall! You complete me.” 

“Hey!” Louis shouts from the couch. “Rude. I’m right here.” 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Louis. Me and Harry are going to Mexico to elope,” Niall says as seriously as he can manage. 

Harry giggles and goes back to the couch, plopping himself down in Louis’ lap. “‘S not true. I’d only elope with you, promise.” He pecks Louis on the lips. 

Louis sticks his tongue out at him and frowns when Harry pokes at it. Niall grabs the liquor and walks into the living room. He hands each of them a different bottle and squeezes his way onto the couch between Louis and Zayn. “Now, we drink.” 

 

By the time midnight rolls around, they're all properly smashed and playing go fish. Liam throws his cards at Niall when he loses for the fifth time in a row and pouts all through the next game. "This is shit," he mutters when Niall wins again. "The same person cannot possibly win go fish four times. That doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, but we're all drunk. I don't think I even had any twos," Zayn says. 

"He didn't ask for twos," Harry points out. 

"Oh, then I gave him my twos."

Louis leans over to look at Zayn's cards. "No you didn't, your twos are right there," he says and points. 

Zayn goes cross-eyed trying to look at his cards. He shakes his head after a moment and frowns. "No, I think those are threes."

"I need threes," Harry pipes up. 

"Are you sure?" Louis looks at his cards again. "Oh, those are threes. Whose turn is it?" 

"Yours."

"Oh." He looks at his cards and furrows his brows. "Zayn, do you have any threes?" 

"Shit. Here." He hands Louis his threes. Louis hands his threes to Harry and kisses him when he beams happily. "Hey, that's cheating!"

"Yeah, but look at his face. You can't say no to that face."

Niall nods seriously. "It's true. I'd give Harry all of my cards if he needed them."

Zayn sighs heavily. "Me too." 

Liam picks up five cards from the deck. "I think I want to play again." 

"You can't just start in the middle of a game."

"I can do whatever I want. It's my turn, now." 

Louis rolls his eyes and sighs. "Fine, but don't whine when you inevitly- invetib- when you lose." 

Liam loses again. And he definitely whines. 

When they look at the clock it's already past one and Niall flops down on his back. "Fuck, we missed it." 

"We are awful adults," Liam says. 

Zayn crawls over to Liam and sits in his lap. "We should kiss, now. 'Cause, like, we missed the countdown." 

"Wait! We have to count first or it doesn't count." Niall starts counting down and when he gets to one Zayn kisses Liam and Louis kisses Harry and Niall groans until they stop. "That's fucked. This isn't fair." 

"Awh, babes," Zayn coos and gets off Liam's lap to knee walk over to where Niall's laying on the floor. He kisses Niall square on the mouth and then pulls back with a gasp. "Oh my god. I just kissed you. Liam is going to kill me!" 

"Don't tell him," Louis says helpfully. 

Zayn looks at Louis, scandalized. "I can't lie to him, Louis! He'll know!"

"He already does," Liam says. 

"Who does?" Harry says, eyebrows furrowed. 

"I do."

"Why are you talking about yourself in third person, Liam? That's weird."

"I'm confused. What are we talking about?" Zayn asks. "Why am I sitting by Niall?" 

"I dunno, mate. I'm going to bed." Niall heaves himself up from the ground and flops down onto the couch, face first. "Someone get me a blanket."

"'Kay," Harry says and goes into the bedroom to get him a blanket. When he gets back, Niall's already snoring and Zayn's laying on top of Liam with his tongue in his mouth. "Gross." 

Louis gets up and grabs Harry by the hand, leads him to their room. They strip and then get into bed, snuggling close. Louis' nearly asleep when Harry wiggles closer and runs his finger up and down Louis' nose. "Lou, I think I'm sad."

"Why, baby?" Louis asks and blinks his eyes open. He watches as Harry's brows furrow and his face scrunches up like he's confused. 

"I think maybe," he pauses and licks his lips. "I think I miss my mum."

Louis brushes Harry's curls off his forehead and scratches at his scalp. "I'm sorry, love. Do you wanna talk about it?" 

Harry's nods. "Can I sit in your lap? I just- I just wanna be close while I tell you."

"'Course." Louis sits up and props some of the pillows against the headboard before he sits with his back against them. He pats at his thighs. "C'mere, baby."

Harry sits in Louis' lap, his side resting against Louis' chest and his legs pulled up to his chest. He grabs the blanket and wraps it around them before he rests his head on Louis' shoulder. "Y'know her and my sister died, yeah? Did I tell you how? I don't remember. It explains Christmas." 

"No, love. You just told me they died when you were younger." Louis wraps one of his arms around Harry's back and pets at his hair with the other. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I do," Harry says and shakes his head. He takes a deep breath before he continues. "Uhm, I was ten. And it was, like, a week and a half before Christmas, maybe. Her and Gemma had gone to my grandma's to pick up a cake or something 'cause she always used to bake us a lot of sweets for Christmas. We were proper spoilt. Anyways, when they were driving home the roads were really icy and it had started snowing and I guess- I guess she couldn't see the curve, I don't know, but they ran off the road and right into a tree. And the car, it just, like, caught on fire." 

Harry buries his face in Louis' neck and blinks repeatedly, eyelashes fluttering against Louis' skin, as he tries to fight off tears. Louis wraps both of his arms around Harry and squeezes him tight, pulls him closer. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, uhm, that's not all. Is that okay?" Louis nods, so Harry swallows thickly and takes another deep breath. "My dad was really upset about it, obviously. At the time I didn't really get why because he was mean to her; he was abusive, Lou. They were always fighting and I just remember me and Gems sitting in my room hiding from it- trying to get away from it all. That's why I don't like fighting, by the way.

"But, uhm, on Christmas my dad just, like, snapped, I guess. He started yelling at me. Kept saying it was my fault they were gone, said he would've rather it be me than Gemma." He's crying properly, now, his tears hot against Louis' neck and falling on his shoulder. 

"That's not true, Harry. It isn't. You couldn't have prevented it, even if you were there. You know that right? You were ten. There's nothing you could've done. And- and it- he shouldn't have said that to you. I'm so sorry." Louis kisses Harry's forehead and holds onto him tighter, tries to pull him in closer. 

"I know that now. But I didn't then. I thought he was right. And he just kept yelling, kept saying awful things to me. And then he- he told me to leave. He told me get out because he didn't want to see me anymore. I reminded him too much of my mum and he couldn't bear to look at me. I was ten, Lou. I was only ten. I didn't know what to do so I just ran out and didn't stop running till I got to Zayn's. I was only ten. What did he expect me to do? I couldn't- Louis I was _ten_.”

Louis shushes him and moves Harry until he's straddling his lap, arms right around his neck and legs locked behind his back. He pulls his knees up to box Harry in, keep him close, and wraps his arms tight around his back. He just holds him tight while he cries, while he shakes, and tells him over and over that he loves him and that he's sorry. 

***

When Harry wakes up the next morning he's alone and his head feels like it's going to explode. This is why he doesn't drink, he thinks. There's a note on Louis' pillow saying he had to go into the shop for a bit but that he'll be home a little after lunch. 

He frowns anyways and goes to brush his teeth and take some medicine for his head. He feels really stupid about getting so drunk and he feels bad about that being what it took for him to tell Louis about what happened with his family. At least he told him, though. He's never told anyone besides Zayn and Zayn had told Liam, but other than that no one else knows. 

Zayn and Liam are in the living room watching some movie that's on tv when he gets out there. Niall's still there, too, making them all breakfast. "Hey, mate," he calls from the kitchen. 

Harry gives him a half hearted wave then goes and sits next to Zayn, tucks himself into his side. "Hey, babes," he says and puts an arm around him. When Harry only hums in response, Zayn frowns and looks at him. "What's wrong, H?"

Harry shrugs, jostling Zayn's arm, and says, "I told Lou about my dad last night."

Liam makes a startled noise in the back of his throat and looks over at him with wide eyes. "You did?"

"Yeah, I thought he should know. Plus, I was drunk. And missed mum. So now I'm sad a bit."

Zayn squeezes his shoulder and kisses his forehead. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks. 

Harry thinks for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, I'll just wait till Lou gets home."

Zayn freezes next to him before turning back to the movie and glaring. He fidgets next to Harry, leg bouncing and fingers tapping against Harry's shoulder, for about ten minutes, then he gets up and walks to his bedroom. Harry jumps when he slams the door and turns to Liam. "What the fuck was that for?" 

Liam shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. I'll go see. I'm sorry," he says and gets up from the couch. 

"Well that was awkward," Niall mumbles from the kitchen. "Wanna come help me? I'm almost done."

Harry gets up from the couch and walks over to Niall. He doesn't really help, though, just watches as Niall finishes frying the eggs. When he's done, Harry helps him plate the food and take the plates to the table. 

"I'll go get them," Harry says when Niall sits at the table. He walks down the hall and just as he's about to knock, he hears them shouting. Well, Zayn's shouting. Liam's trying to calm him down, it seems. 

"This is why I didn't want him to move in. It's bullshit, Liam!"

"I think you're overreacting. This is good. This is what we wanted, right? This is a _good_ thing."

"No, it's not. It's really not. I don't like it. It was always me, Liam. And now he doesn't even need me anymore because fucking Louis can do it better, or whatever the fuck."

"Zayn, honestly, you're behaving like a child. It's fine. This is fine."

"Stop, Liam, just stop! It's not fine. We should have never agreed. Fuck the trial period. Fuck the three months. I want him to leave."

"No, Zayn, we can't make him leave because he's being helpful. That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't care. I'm gonna ask him to leave. I'll make something up, I don't know, but I don't want him here anymore. We shouldn't have let him move in in the first place."

Harry draws his eyebrows together in confusion because, what the fuck? He finally opens the door just as Liam's explaining to Zayn, again, how stupid that sounds. "What are you talking about?" He asks. 

Liam freezes, his hands falling to his sides. Zayn turns to him with wide eyes and fishmouths a few times. "Uhh," he says smartly. 

"What trial period? What are you talking about?" Harry asks again, folding his arms over his chest. 

"Fuck," Liam says under his breath. He looks at Zayn and then at Harry. "So, we love you, right? You know that. And we want to make sure you're okay, yeah?"

"Shut up, Liam. Tell me what's going on."

"Right. Uhm, I'd really rather not. Zayn, you wanna take this one?" 

Zayn shakes his head quickly, but sighs when Harry glares at him. "Fuck. Promise not to get mad first."

"No, if it's a big enough deal that you need to make me promise that I'm not gonna get mad, then I'm definitely not promising shit."

"Fuck. Okay, fine. Louis told us he wanted to move in before he asked you and we didn't want him to without knowing whether or not he could take care of you."

"Louis always takes care of me. You've seen it, like, everyday. Even before he was here. That doesn't make any sense."

Liam scratches at the back of his neck, shoulders slumping. "We meant, like, emotionally. In case you had another, y'know, we wanted to see if he could handle it. So, we told him he had to go through a three month trial period as a test or something before Zayn would properly move into mine."

Harry breathes out harshly through his nose and glares at them so intensely Liam actually takes a step back. "What the fuck? You guys think I'm _so crazy_ that you have to make sure someone can properly babysit me? I'm sorry I'm such a burden on you guys that you've decided to give your friends trial periods to determine who gets to take over 'make sure Harry doesn't off himself' duty." 

"Harry, it's not like that. I'd stay forever if you needed me to."

"Clearly not," Harry snaps. 

"We were just trying to take care of you. He wanted it to just be you two but we needed to make sure he was good enough, or something. I don't know."

"Yeah, well he is."

"Yeah, I fucking noticed."

"Zayn, stop," Liam says just as Harry shouts, "what the fuck is your problem, Zayn?" 

"Nothing. Everything's great," Zayn bites out as he grabs his backpack from underneath his desk and starts shoving clothes in it. 

"What are you doing?" Harry asks nervously, all of his anger suddenly draining and making way for his anxiety. 

"I'm leaving. I'm obviously not needed here anymore."

"Zayn, don't be an idiot," Liam says and grabs at his arm. 

Zayn yanks his arm free and zips his backpack up, slings it over his shoulder. "Come on, Liam."

"No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Zayn, what are you doing? Please, stop," Harry says frantically as he steps fully into the room. 

"Give me your keys, then." When Liam shakes his head no, Zayn snaps and yells, "give me your fucking keys!"

Liam looks at him wearily, but eventually sighs and digs them out of his pocket. Zayn yanks them out of his hand and shoulders passed Harry. "Zayn, stop!" Harry yells as he runs after him. He keeps grabbing his arm, but Zayn just yanks it back every time. "Zayn, stop! Don't do this!" He's crying now, he knows, but he can't help it because why is he _doing_ this. 

Harry runs ahead of him and puts his back to the door to stop him from leaving. "Harry, get out of the way. Let me through."

Harry just shakes his head and scrunches his face up to try and stop crying. "No, I don't want you to leave. You can't leave. I don't want you to."

"You don't need me anymore. You have Louis, Harry. Now, move." Zayn grabs the door handle and pulls hard enough to make Harry stumble away from it. 

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Zayn?" Liam yells at him as he walks over to Harry and pulls him into a hug. 

"I do need you. I always do. Don't do this!" Harry yells. Zayn just walks out the door and Harry turns his face into Liam's neck and starts to cry properly. 

Niall walks over to the door and yells, "you're being a fucking cunt!" Down the hall towards Zayn, before slamming the door shut and going back to his breakfast. 

"Call Louis. Please, call him," Harry whispers into Liam's neck. Liam nods and picks Harry up, carries him to bed. He tucks Harry into bed before he goes back to the kitchen and sits across from Niall. 

"Well, that was fucked up. And sufficiently awkward. I'm suddenly very glad I usually stay home," Niall says before taking a bite. 

 

When Louis gets home, Harry's already sleeping so he goes and sits on the couch between Niall and Liam. "What even happened?" He asks. 

"So, Harry found out about the trial period," Niall says. "That's kinda shitty, just saying."

"Yeah, thanks for that." Louis rolls his eyes and runs a hand through his hair. "Why did Zayn leave?"

"He freaked out because Harry asked for you instead of him."

"He's a big fucking baby, is what happened. He basically pushed Harry out the way to get out of the flat," Niall says. 

"He did what?" Louis asks with wide eyes. "You need to fix that," he says to Liam. 

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm not leaving Harry, too. I'm gonna stay anyways. If that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll call him."

"Well, I'm definitely leaving," Niall says and gets up. "This was way too stressful. I need a beer." He pats Louis on the head and then leaves. 

"I'm gonna call Zayn." Louis gets up from the couch and grabs the cigarettes from the coffee table before going out onto the balcony. He lights a cigarette and then dials Zayn's number. 

Just before it goes to voicemail, Zayn picks up with a hostile, "what?"

"What the fuck is your problem, mate? Why would you do that?"

"Because it's fairly obvious that you're all he needs. It'll just be you two, now. Isn't that what you wanted? Think of it as a favor."

"You're a fucking prick. He'll always need you and you should know that. And, honestly, fuck you for pushing him out of the way. You, of all people, should know better. Just- fuck you." Louis shouts and hangs up without waiting for a reply. He finishes his cigarette and flicks it over the railing then goes back inside. 

Liam's sitting on the couch nervously picking at his shirt, but Louis just ignores him and goes to their room, crawls in bed beside Harry. He folds his body around Harry and just holds him until he wakes up. 

Harry wakes up about thirty minutes later and stretches before turning over in Louis' grip to look at him. Louis smiles at him runs his fingers over his forehead, his nose. "Hi," he whispers. 

"Hi," Harry whispers back. He's quiet for a moment before he says, "why didn't you tell me, Lou?"

Louis sighs and folds his hands under his head. "I don't know. I didn't want to upset you I guess. I should’ve told you, though. That wasn’t fair of me.” 

“Yeah, you should have. That makes me feel really shitty. Not just- not just the fact that you need a trial period, but that you weren’t honest with me, that you kept that from me.” 

“I know, baby. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry.” Louis rests his forehead against Harry’s and squeezes his eyes shut, ‘cause, yeah, that was kind of fucked up. He feels like a really shitty human right now. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. I never want to be the reason you’re upset.”

Harry’s quiet for a long time, the sound of their breaths the only noise in the room. “I forgive you,” he says quietly. 

Louis wraps his arms around him and pulls him close, squeezes him tight. “Thank you. I won’t do it again, I promise. I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” Harry wraps his arms around Louis, too, and kisses him for a few moments. He pulls back with one last peck and wiggles down the bed a bit to rest his forehead against Louis’ chest. “I’m really pissed at them,” he says quietly like it’s a secret. 

“I know, love. They did it because they care, though. It wasn’t to hurt you. That was never their intention.” 

“No, I know that. It’s just kind of fucked up. And really offensive. ‘Oh, we don’t trust you to not kill yourself so we have to make sure Lou’s a good enough babysitter.’ Like, what the fuck?”

“It wasn’t like that. They just wanted to make sure you’d be okay. You’ve never been without Zayn, y’know? So they wanted to make sure you’d be okay with just me. They didn’t want you to feel like he was abandoning you or just brushing you off ‘cause I was here. It’s good that they care about you so much.” Louis rests his head on top of Harry’s and rubs at his back.

“Yeah. Except I’m not so sure about that, now. You say they didn’t want me to feel that way, but I do. I really do. I can’t believe he just.. left.” Harry shakes his head against Louis’ chest and wiggles impossibly closer. “He’s never just left before. I feel like I’ve done something wrong.” 

Louis kisses the top of his head. “You didn’t do anything, love. He’s just being a big fucking child. There was no reason for that. He just feels like he’s been pushed to the side because I’m here now, I think. I don’t know. Maybe I should back off or something.” 

“No, don’t,” Harry says quickly and squeezes Louis tighter. 

“Okay, baby, I won’t.” 

“I can’t-” Harry cuts himself off and shakes his head again, takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe he just pushed me out of the way. I mean, he didn’t actually touch me, but still.” 

“I’ll beat his ass when he comes back, if you want me to. That was really fucked up. He should know better.” 

He feels Harry smile against his chest when he says, “No, it’s okay. He should, though. Know better I mean.” Louis just hums and pets at his hair. 

They spend the rest of the day in bed just cuddling and watching movies. Harry makes Louis eat too much junk food with him and at least a pint of ice cream, not that he minds. Liam comes in multiple times to check on them and every times he apologizes. Harry just keeps telling him he’s not the one who needs to apologize and it always results in Liam frowning and walking out of the room. They go to bed early, both of them still feeling poorly from drinking too much, wrapped up in each other. 

 

Harry wakes up in the morning to Louis bouncing on the bed next to him and saying, “Get up, get up! I have a surprise.” Harry just frowns and bats his hand in his general direction. 

“No,” he whines. “I want to sleep. Like a normal person does on Sunday.” 

“Get up,” Louis says again and flops down on top of him. “It’ll be fun. It’s a great surprise. Please.” 

When Harry peeks his eyes open, Louis’ pouting at him adorably and giving him his best puppydog eyes. He rolls his eyes and says, “Fine. What is it?”

“I’m not telling,” Louis sing-songs and kisses his nose. “Get up and get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. I got muffins!”

“That seriously better not be my surprise,” he says and gets out of bed after Louis. 

“If that was the surprise, why would I be so excited? You should know I like scones much better.” Louis walks to the door and says on his way out, “Dress warm!” 

Harry frowns as he looks through his closet. He puts on a jumper, a pair of jeans, and his boots before he walks into the kitchen. Louis’ still bouncing and it’s really weird, he thinks. “Will you tell me what it is now?” 

“Nope! Grab your muffin and let’s go.” Before they leave, Louis makes him wear one of his warmest coats and wraps a scarf around his neck. He doesn’t figure out where they’re going until they’ve been driving for about 15 minutes and then he starts bouncing, too. 

“Lou! Are you taking me ice skating?”

“Not telling!” 

Louis takes him ice skating. Harry finds out rather quickly that he is very bad at ice skating. He falls about ten times before Louis decides to hold Harry’s hand and just pull him along. Harry likes it better that way anyways. 

They stay there all day, just skating in circles and talking about everything they can think of. They get lunch at the little snack bar just outside of the rink. The foods terrible and they end up throwing half of it away, but they couldn’t be bothered to leave to find proper food because it’s too much fun. 

Just before they leave, after they’ve put their own shoes back on, Louis disappears and tells Harry to wait at the car. He waits, very impatiently, but it’s worth it, he thinks, when Louis walks over to him. He’s smiling so wide and he’s got a giant stuffed bear in his arms that he thrusts at Harry when he gets close enough. “I saw it earlier when we were eating and I thought it was really cute. I thought you should have it.” 

Harry hugs the bear to chest, cheeks aching because he’s smiling so big. “I love you,” he says. “Thank you. I’ve never been ice skating before. I had a lot of fun.” 

Louis shrugs and tries his best to hug Harry with the giant bear in between them. “I love you, too. I’m glad you had fun. You deserve it.” He kisses Harry sweetly and then tugs the car door open for him. 

***

 

Zayn doesn’t come back for two more days. He calls Harry repeatedly, texts him obnoxious amounts, but Harry never answers. Eventually, he just turns his phone off. He doesn’t really want to talk to him and even if he did, he wouldn’t want to do it over the phone. He’s still really upset about everything, and a phone call isn’t going to help anything. 

When he walks in the front door, Harry and Louis are on the couch, Louis sitting on Harry’s stomach tickling him. They both look over to the door and Harry’s giggles abruptly stop. “Up, Lou,” he whispers and gets off the couch as soon Louis moves off him. He nearly makes it all the way to his door before someone grabs his arm. And of course it’s Zayn. “Don’t touch me. You don’t get to touch me,” he snaps and pulls his arm from Zayn’s grip. 

Zayn looks like shit, like he hasn’t slept in days. Good, Harry thinks bitterly. “Come on, Harry. Don’t be like that.” 

Harry just sighs and shakes his head, walks into his room and shuts the door. “That went well,” Louis says as he walks passed Zayn, patting him on the shoulder as he goes. “Maybe next time, don’t start with that.” 

Zayn opens the door and peeks inside hesitantly. Louis’ sitting on the bed with his hands folded over his stomach and Harry’s standing at the end of the bed talking to him about something, but cuts himself off and looks over at Zayn. “Y’know, the whole point of me coming in here was to get away from you, right?”

“Obviously,”Zayn says. “I want to talk to you, though.” 

“I can see that.”

“I’m sorry, Harry. I was just doing it for your own good.” 

“Doing what exactly? Finding me a new babysitter or bailing once you realized you found one?” Harry asks and crosses his arms over his chest. 

“I didn’t- I wasn’t bailing, Harry. I just got upset.” 

“I really don’t care. You know what that does to me, and you did it anyways. That was fucked up, Zayn. I never expected that from you.” Harry walks over to the door and grabs onto the side of it. “Please, move out of the way. I’m going to close the door now. And I won’t shove you out of the way.” Zayn’s shoulders slump and he bows his head, but does as Harry says and steps back so Harry can close the door. 

 

When Harry walks out of his room later that night to make dinner, Zayn's sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. As soon as he sees Harry, he puts it out and stands up. 

"I'm sorry, Harry. I overreacted and shouldn't have done that, I know, but I was just upset. I don't know. That just hurt really hurt me."

"Then use your words, Zayn. Don't just storm off and leave because you're upset. That's not how it works."

"Yeah, I get that, I do. I don't know why I did it, I just did. And I'm sorry."

"Okay, but I don't forgive you," Harry says and starts walking towards the kitchen again. 

Zayn rushes over to stand in front of him effectively blocking his way. "What? Why?" 

"Seriously? You left, Zayn. You fucking left. After I told you not to! After everything- after everything that happened, you know that fucks with me and you know I can't deal with that."

"Yeah, but I came back. And, like, I won't do that again. I won't, I promise."

"I don't know if I believe that anymore." Harry tries to walk away again but Zayn grabs his arm again. "Let go of me," he says lowly. He doesn't let go. 

"I just- I want to figure out how to explain. Let me figure it out. Talk to me. Please."

Harry tugs his arm away, but Zayn just grabs onto it again so Harry pushes him backwards gently. "I said don't touch me. Stop it." 

"I didn't mean to freak out. I just. I guess I was jealous, I don't know. It's never not been me, and then it wasn't and I didn't know how to deal with it," Zayn says quickly and goes to grab at him again. 

Harry moves backwards before he can touch him. "You got jealous of Lou, so you turned into a fucking four year old and threw a fit? You got jealous, so you made sure to hurt me in the worst way possible? That doesn't make sense, Zayn."

"I don't know. I don't get it either, okay? It just happened! I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, fine. Can I go, now?"

"Harry, please. What can I do? I don't want it to be like this. I don't want us to be weird and not talking. You're important to me. I can't lose you." 

"Then you should have thought of that before! If it's so important to you, then you should've thought of that. I should have been important then, too. But clearly I wasn't." Harry snaps. Zayn keeps trying to grab at him so he can't run away and it's just making him angrier. Every time he puts his arm out, Harry slaps it away or pushes him back. "Stop trying to touch me! You don't get to touch me. Not after- not after you basically shoved me out of the way." 

"Harry, I was just upset. I didn't mean it. I wasn't- it didn't- fuck, I wasn't thinking."

Zayn reaches out at him again so Harry slaps him across the face. "I said don't fucking touch me. I don't care why you did it. I don't fucking care! You did it and you left! You just left. I can't believe you would do that. After- _you_ of all people should know better. I can't- just- fuck you!” 

Zayn's still got his hand over his cheek and staring at Harry with wide eyes, mouth agape. Harry's just so _mad_ , he's shaking with it, and he doesn't like it. He turns on his heel, can feel Zayn staring at him, but he just walks into his bedroom and shuts the door. He leans back against it and tilts his head back. Louis' still sitting on the bed staring at him warily, fingers tweaking at his fringe. 

"I just hit him. I hit Zayn," he whispers. "Fuck." He hits his head back against the door once then slides down, brings his knees up to his chest. He drops his head to his knees and yells, "fuck." 

Louis quickly gets off the bed and goes over to him. He drops to his knees and pulls him into a hug. "Fuck," Louis echoes and rests his head against Harry's. 

"I can't believe I just did that."

"It's okay, baby. He deserved it, honestly," Louis murmurs into his hair. 

"Yeah, I know. I've just- I've never hit anyone before. I feel like a dick." Harry's quiet for a bit then mumbles out, "I should've waited to hit him. I'm really hungry." 

Louis giggles into his hair and pulls back. "I'll go get us something. Be right back."

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is basically the same. I just added some things that will hopefully clear everything up.

Harry doesn't talk to Zayn again for a week. It's so, so awkward in their flat the whole time, the air constantly thick with tension. Liam stays the whole time, doesn't want Harry to think he's bailing the way Zayn did. Zayn stays, too, though, like he's trying to prove to Harry that he really won't leave again. 

He makes breakfast for Harry every morning and brings him flowers or candles every night when he gets home. Harry always says a short, "thanks," but doesn't acknowledge it otherwise. By the end of the week, Liam and Louis get tired of walking on eggshells in their own home and come up with a plan. 

It's a really shit plan, they'll admit, but it's all they've got. And they both know how Harry feels about confrontation. It's not very likely that he'd seek Zayn out himself and Zayn is trying his best to let Harry be. Which is fine, it's just. They're not going to fix it themselves and neither one of them are paying attention to the fact that they need each other, that this rift between them is affecting everything else in their lives. It's a shit plan, really, but it's all they've got. 

Louis walks into their room and finds Harry laying in bed. "Hey, H. Liam was wondering if you could help with one of his articles. He missed the Chelsea game, but knows we watched and apparently you're better with words than I am. He's in his room." 

Harry frowns but gets up. "Yeah, alright," he says and kisses him as we walks by. When he walks into Liam's room, Zayn's sitting on the bed reading a book and Liam's not there. "Uh, where's Liam?" 

Zayn looks up from his book surprised. "Uh, he's at work?" 

"Shit." Harry turns around, but before he can walk out, Louis shuts the door and locks it. "Louis, what the fuck!" He yells when he tries the handle. 

"You guys need to fix this. I'll let you out in a bit." 

"Lou, this is fucked up!" He yells and tries at the handle again. Apparently, they flipped the doorknob so it locks from the outside. Fuck. 

“I'm right here if you need me, H, okay? I just- we didn't know what to do. If you need out or anything at all, knock three times, yeah? I'll be right here,” Louis says through the door. 

Harry hits his hand against the door once and rests his forehead against it, but doesn't say anything else. It's not- he's _mad_ , fuck he's so mad at them for doing this, but he gets what they're trying to do, knows that he wouldn't be standing in front of Zayn on his own accord. He still feels safe- always feels safe with Zayn- and he knows Louis is right outside, so he finds comfort in that. 

"Is it really so awful for you to be in my presence?" Zayn asks from the bed. 

Harry clenches his eyes shut and rolls till his back is pressed against the door. It's not awful, is the thing. No matter what happens between him and Zayn, he knows in his heart that he'll always be there. Zayn keeps him grounded, no matter what, like they're tethered together. But. "I'm still mad at you," he says softly. 

"Yeah, I get that, but we should talk about it. I don't want us to not be friends anymore. I want to keep you in my life, Harry. I _need_ you in my life. 

Harry sinks down to the floor, legs stretched out in front of him. He picks at his nails for a bit before he mumbles out, "I'm sorry I hit you. That was mean."

Zayn shakes his head and crawls to the end of the bed, lays down on his stomach so he can look at Harry. "I deserved it. I'd let you hit me again if it'd make you feel better."

"I don't want to turn into him," he says and shakes his head. 

"You won't."

"Yeah."

They're quiet for a long time, not really sure what to say. Harry stops picking at his nails but ends up picking at his jeans when he realizes he can't sit still. Zayn's just laying on the bed, head rested on his hands, staring at Harry. 

"I can't forgive you," Harry finally says. "Not yet, at least. I just- I can't. That was really fucked up, Zayn." He meets Zayn's eyes for the first time in what feels like ages. "I'd expect it from anyone else. Sometimes even Louis still. But never- not from you. I just can't believe you did that. And I can't forgive you for that." His eyes are shining, but he doesn't look away. 

"I know, babes. And I get that, I do. I wasn't thinking. I honestly don't know why I did that. I just- I got so upset because it felt like you didn't need me anymore. It felt like I'd been replaced or something, and I didn't know how to handle that."

"I'll always need you, Zayn. Always. You're my best friend. No one could get in the way of that."

Zayn nods his head and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know that now. I don't know why I didn't then, but I do know. I'm so sorry, H." 

Harry blinks a couple times, lets a couple tears fall, then says, voice cracking, "I've never felt like you didn't love me before, like you didn't want me. But I did then. I did." He buries his face in his hands and tries his hardest not to cry. 

"Fuck," Zayn whispers and slides off the bed. He crawls over to Harry and wraps his arms around him. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry. I never meant to make you feel that way." He pulls him in closer to his body and kisses the top of his head. "I'm sorry I did that to you. I hate myself for making you feel like that. I do want you. I do love you. I _do_."

Harry lets out a little hiccup and turns his face into Zayn's neck before wrapping his arms around him and hugging back. "Please, don't do that again. I can't- I don't know how to handle that. I need you. I always need you."

Zayn nods against him and kisses the top of his head again. "Okay, I won't. I won't do that again. I love you. I'm sorry." 

By the time Liam gets home and unlocks the door, Harry's snuggled into Zayn's side, reading along with him. They look up when they hear the door open and Harry frowns as he gets up and walks over to Liam. Immediately, he starts rambling out apologies, tries to get Harry to understand that he wasn't trying to upset him. Harry just stares at him for a moment before he wraps his arms around Liam and hugs him tight. "Thank you," he whispers and walks out of the room. 

He finds Louis in the living room pacing around anxiously. "So, that was fucked up," Harry says in lieu of greeting. 

Louis stops pacing and looks at Harry sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I just- you guys are so close and I couldn't- we couldn't stand to see you hurting so bad." He walks over to Harry and reaches out like he wants to touch him, but pauses halfway and drops his hands back to side. "I love you so much and I didn't want you to hurt anymore."

Harry looks at him carefully, frowns at him long enough that Louis starts fidgeting. Louis looks down at his feet and curls his toes in the carpet. He fiddles with his fingers and then tugs at his shirt. When the silence gets to be too much, he looks up at Harry hesitantly. "Do you, uhm, do you want me to go stay at Niall's?" He asks and swallows thickly. 

"No," Harry says quietly and shakes his head.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"

"No."

"Okay," Louis says and stares back down at the floor. 

Harry just watches him for another few moments before he closes the distance between them and pulls him into his arms. Louis makes a startled noise, but slumps against him, hugs him close. "Thank you," Harry whispers into his hair. "I love you."

"You're not mad?"

"I was. I was really mad, but it got us to talk and I feel better now. I wouldn't have done it on my own. It was fucked, Lou, really fucked and I didn't- don't do that again, yeah? I'm not upset anymore, I don't think. I'm glad it's fixed. Or I guess as fixed as it's gonna get right now. Just don't do that again.” 

Louis nods against his chest and hugs him tighter. "I won't I promise. I'm proud of you, though. For talking to him.” Louis pauses and then whispers fiercely, “I would've let you out. You know that right? If you didn't- if you couldn't- I would've let you out.”

“I know that, I do. Thank you.”

Louis buries his face in Harry's chest and takes a deep breath. “I'm sorry, baby. I just didn't know what to do. I just- I love you, yeah? I won't do that again. I promise.” 

Harry hums and kisses the top of his head. “I know, Lou. I love you, too. 

Louis takes another deep breath before he asks, “Can I kiss you?"

Harry tilts his head up with a hand under his chin and connects their lips, kisses him slow and gentle. When he flicks his tongue out along Louis' bottom lip, Louis whimpers and opens his mouth, lets Harry lick into it. 

It turns needy and desperate quick because this whole thing with Zayn has affected them, too. Harry hasn't really wanted to be touched, except for cuddles and occasional kisses, since Zayn knocked Harry out of the way. And Louis gets that, he really does. But he’s missed his boy so much and right now he _really_ wants to touch. 

Louis fists his hands in the back of Harry's shirt and tries to pull him in closer, wants to feel him everywhere. Harry breaks the kiss to trail kisses along Louis' jaw, sucks a mark into the underside. "I want you to fuck me. Please," he whispers against Louis' skin. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I want to. Want you," Louis says and nods frantically. Harry nods, too, and slides his hands down to grip at Louis' bum, then grabs the top of his thighs and picks him up. Louis wraps his legs around around Harry's waist and leaves sucking kisses along Harry's neck and jaw. Harry carries him to the bedroom, pointedly ignoring the catcalls and whistles coming from Zayn's room, and lies him down on the bed after kicking the door shut. 

"Get your kit off," Harry says and stands up to undress himself. They make quick work of stripping before Harry's on top of him again. He kisses his way down Louis' chest, bites at the padlock tattoo, and then sucks marks into Louis' hip bones. 

Louis reaches out and opens the drawer of the bedside table fumbling around until he finds the bottle of lube and pulls it out. He tugs Harry up and bites at his lips before rolling them over and pressing the bottle into his chest. "Want you to open yourself up. Wanna watch," he whispers against Harry's mouth. 

Harry lets out a groan and nods, then slicks up his fingers. Louis shuffles backwards and leans back on his heels, watches as Harry spreads his legs and circles one of his fingers around his rim before pushing it inside. He slides his finger in and out a few times before thrusting in with two, whimpers at the slight sting. 

"Baby, don't hurt yourself," Louis murmurs as he lays down on his stomach in between Harry's legs. 

"Won't. Just want you," he grits out and scissors his fingers a bit to stretch himself out before fucking them in and out. 

Louis leans forward and licks around his fingers, pushes the tip of his tongue in when Harry whines above him. "Fuck, Lou, oh my god." Louis feels around for the lube and slicks one of his fingers up, too. He moves back a bit to slide his finger in alongside Harry's and then licks around them again, matches the pace Harry's set for himself. 

Harry abruptly pulls his fingers out after a few more thrusts, pulls out Louis', too, and fists a hand in his hair. He tries to pull him up, but Louis just strains against the constant tugging on his hair and continues to lick and suck around Harry's rim, occasionally dipping his tongue inside. 

"Lou, fuck, please," he cuts himself off with a whine that turns into a moan when Louis thrusts two of his fingers inside Harry and crooks his fingers, rubs against the bundle of nerves he finds there. 

Louis pulls away and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, keeps his fingers rubbing against Harry's spot. Harry's got his eyes clenched shut and his head thrown back. There's a flush on his chest that goes up his neck and his cheeks are tinted red, curls matted. His hands are fisted in the blankets and he keeps making little whimpers, whines when Louis presses his fingers a bit harder. 

"Baby, if I let you come, can you get hard again?" Louis asks breathlessly. He licks a stripe up Harry's cock and circles his tongue around the head. 

Harry whines high in his throat and swallows harshly. "I don't- what?"

"If I let you come," Louis says and pauses to suckle at the head of Harry's cock. "Could you do it again?" He takes Harry into his mouth, then, and bobs his head a few times hollowing his cheeks. 

"I don't- maybe," Harry moans out. "Fuck, Lou, please." Louis hums around his cock and pulls his fingers out only to slide three in and finds that spot inside him again. "I can't- I'm gonna- oh, fuck." Harry yanks at Louis' hair as he comes with a shout, body tensing and clenching around Louis' fingers. 

Louis sucks him through it, then gently pulls his fingers out and crawls up Harry's body. He waits until Harry's breathing is mostly back to normal, watches as he flutters his eyes open. When Harry looks at him, he swallows a bit and then leans down, sticks his tongue out causing some of Harry's come to drip down onto his lips. Harry flicks his tongue out against his bottom lip and then sucks Louis' tongue into his mouth, moans when he tastes himself in Louis' mouth. 

Harry licks his way into Louis' mouth and just explores until he can't taste himself anymore, can only taste Louis. He massages their tongues together lazily, turns the kiss slow and gentle. Louis gets impatient, though, and groans against his lips before he takes control of the kiss making it filthy and needy. He grabs Harry's wrists and pins them above his head, squeezes them tightly as he starts to grind his hips down into him. 

It hurts a bit, Harry's still sensitive, but he finds he _likes_ it and can feel himself starting to harden. Louis notices, too, because he breaks the kiss with a nip to Harry's bottom lip and drops his head to Harry's shoulder. He pants into Harry's ear and digs his nails into Harry's wrists when they move together just right. 

"Lou, I want you to fuck me," Harry pants out. He starts thrusting his hips against Louis' until he pulls back. 

"You sure?" Louis asks as he grabs the lube. When Harry nods, he slicks his cock up and lines himself up, pushes in slowly. Harry squeezes his eyes shut again and breathes deeply through his nose. Louis leans over him and links their fingers together again, arms still outstretched above Harry's head. Harry whispers at him to move, so Louis does. 

They start out slow, Harry still a bit sensitive, but it doesn't last long. Harry starts begging Louis to go faster, go harder and deeper. He grabs one of Harry's legs and wraps it around his waist, digs his fingers in, and wraps his other hand around the headboard before thrusting into Harry like he asked. 

Louis bites and sucks at Harry's shoulder littering his skin with little purple and red marks. Harry rakes his nails down Louis' back and moans into his ear. "Lou, c'mon. I'm- fuck, close again. Want you to come first. Wanna feel you. Please." Louis nods into his neck, panting harshly, and comes a few thrusts later groaning into Harry's neck. As soon as he feels Louis release inside him, he whines and says, “I think I’m gonna come, Lou.” 

Louis makes a noise of protest and whispers, “don’t,” into the skin of his neck before gently pulling out and making his way down Harry’s body. He lays down on his stomach and watches as his come trickles out of Harry’s hole and down his thighs. “Fuck,” he groans as he brings a thumb up to circle around Harry’s hole and then presses the tip of his digit inside, feels the wetness there. 

Harry whines above him and pants out, “please, Lou, please.” Louis would never deny his boy of anything, so he leans that last bit forward and licks up Harry’s thigh, catching some of the come that had dribbled down them, before licking a broad strip over Harry’s hole. He moans at the taste of himself and Harry mixed together and then thrusts his tongue inside, curling it around best he can. He brings his hands up to grip at Harry’s arse cheeks and squeeze once before pulling them apart. 

It spreads Harry a bit more, lets Louis get that much closer, nose pressed to Harry’s skin as he keeps licking into his boy, chasing the taste of himself. He pulls back enough to nibble gently on Harry’s rim and then sucks hard, revels in the gasp it startles out of Harry and the way one of his legs kicks out. Harry drops his hand to Louis’ hair and tugs on it. “I’m so close, Lou. Can I- please, I wanna come.”

Louis hums against his hole and says, “Yeah, baby, want you to come,” breath hitting Harry’s hole while he speaks. He can hear the moment Harry gets a hand around himself and the slick sounds of Harry stroking himself mixes with the filthy sounds of him continuing to suck around his rim. It’s only a few moments later before Harry comes all over his fist, clenching down tight around Louis’ tongue with a high pitched whine that peters off into a moan. 

Louis pulls his tongue out slowly, licks one last stripe over his hole, and flops down so he’s practically laying on top of Harry. "Fuck," he breathes. "Amazing." 

"Fuck," Harry echoes and cards his fingers through Louis' hair. 

*** 

Things are still a little awkward between Harry and Zayn for the rest of the month, but they make a sort of silent agreement to not talk about it. Harry's not going to forgive him any time soon, Zayn knows, so he doesn't bother trying to get him to. Harry's busy with school starting back up, though, so he's not around as much anyways. Zayn stays away a bit, too, sleeping over at Liam's more often. It does get better, though. They're mostly back to the way they were. They still cuddle and joke about, but their touches are always a bit hesitant. 

The last day of January Zayn and Liam tell Louis he can officially move in, tell him that Zayn's going to move into Liam's at the end of February if Harry's okay with it. Louis is positively ecstatic and takes Harry out to celebrate that night. Harry's nervous the whole time, though, because his birthday is the next day and Louis' mum and sisters are coming the day after. Plus, he has to go meet with the solicitor about his trust tomorrow, not exactly his idea of fun birthday plans. 

When they're curled up in bed that night, Harry's head on Louis' chest, he taps his fingers against Louis' side and says, "I have to go talk with the solicitor tomorrow. Will you come with me?"

Louis' carding his fingers through Harry's hair and he's proud of himself for not purring. "Why d'you gotta see a solicitor baby?" 

"It's just something to do with the accident. Nothing bad. I just don't wanna go by myself." Harry thought about asking Zayn, was originally going to go with him, but since Zayn's not going to be there every day anymore, he figures he needs to stop relying on him so much.

"Oh," Louis whispers. He clears his throat and rubs Harry's back. "Yeah, of course. I'll come with. And then we can do something fun for your birthday." 

 

The appointment is at ten in the morning and Louis whines about it being early the whole time. But he woke Harry up with morning sex, so he doesn't mind much. The solicitor is an older man who's balding and has a beer belly. He's not a pleasant man, not at all, and Louis keeps bouncing his knee and squeezing at Harry's hand to make sure he keeps his mouth shut. 

Harry already knows this, though, has had to deal with him before. He hands Harry the documents he needs to sign, waits impatiently while Harry reads over them and says, "Nothing has changed. Just sign the papers."

"No, thank you," Harry answers as he continues to read them over. When he's finished and has determined everything is, in fact, the same, he signs and hands the papers over. 

The man signs them as well and straightens them out. "Right, these should be processed in the next couple of days and you should receive a letter some time next week explaining everything else."

Harry nods and stands up tugging on Louis' hand until he stands up as well. They're nearly at the door when the man clears his throat and says, "you know he's just with you for the money, right? Man like that wouldn't deal with someone like you if it weren't for the money."

Harry turns and frowns at him, is about to say something back, but Louis responds instead with, "What money?" 

The man frowns at them, but doesn't say anything else so Harry opens the door and pulls Louis along behind him. When they get in the car, Louis looks at him confused. "What money, H?"

"Uhm, the money from the accident. And my mum's money. It was in a trust until I turned twenty-one. Which is today, so." He trails off with a shrug. 

"Huh," is all Louis says before putting the car in drive and leaving the car park. "So, what do you want to do for your birthday?" 

"Wanna give me a tattoo?" Harry asks hopefully. 

Louis grins at him and turns in the direction of his shop. "Always wanna tattoo you," he says. 

 

It only takes them about ten minutes to get to the shop. Louis unlocks the door and holds it open for him. He walks them back to his usual room and flicks the light on. Harry pulls his shirt over his head and sits in the chair, leans back against it. "What do you want, baby?" Louis asks as he sets up his tattoo gun and pulls out the black ink. 

Harry wiggles around in the chair to get comfortable and looks over at Louis, fingers at his fringe. "Well, see, I have this disgustingly romantic boyfriend." 

"Oh, do you?" Louis hums and pulls on his gloves. 

"I do," Harry says with a solemn nod. "And he got me this key necklace right?" Harry points to said necklace. "So, I was thinking you could trace around it and then tattoo it. Wanna keep it forever, y’know, because he got a padlock tattooed for me."

"What a sap," Louis says and rolls his chair over to Harry. He's smiling so wide his eyes are crinkling and Harry beams down at him while he traces around the pendant. "You want it in the center, yeah? Match mine?" Harry hums so Louis tries his gun a few times, then sticks the needle in the ink. Harry grabs the pendent and slides it around to his back and closes his eyes while Louis gets to work. 

It only takes about ten minutes and then Louis cleans it off. He cleans up his station while Harry stares down at his chest, smiling dopily. "It looks good, baby. I like it," Louis says once he starts bandaging it. 

Harry beams again and kisses him a couple times. "I love it. We match, now." Louis hums against his lips and kisses him once before standing up. "Want me to pay for it?"

Louis scoffs and holds the door open for Harry again, locks the door. "No, Harold. It's a birthday gift." He grabs Harry around the waist before he can climb into car and pulls him close. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Lou," Harry says, eyes sparkling. "It's a forever thing, yeah?" 

Louis sucks in a breath and rests their foreheads together, licks his lips. "Yeah. Yeah, baby, it is. Happy birthday." 

***

 

Harry is positively freaking out the next day. Louis' mum is supposed to be there in, like, ten minutes and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He stayed up half the night stress baking and now they have a dozen cupcakes and two batches of cookies sitting on their counter. 

"It's alright, baby, they'll love you," Louis assures him as he wraps his arms around him. "Who wouldn't love you?" Harry just frowns at him, forehead wrinkling, so Louis kisses him. "Okay, bad choice of words. They'll love you, though. Already do, I think." 

“You sure?” He asks with a pout. 

“Positive,” Louis says pouting back. Harry rolls his eyes and kisses Louis, but jumps when there’s a knock on the door. He looks at Louis with wide eyes. “It’s okay, baby. You got this. You can go get Zayn, if you want, yeah?” 

Harry nods and walks over to Zayn’s room as Louis goes to the answer door. Harry peeks his head inside and finds Zayn drawing doodles on Liam’s arm. “Uhm, Louis’ mum is here. Will you, like, come with me?”

“Sure, babes,” Zayn says and recaps the marker. He heaves himself out of bed and tugs Liam along with him. When they walk back into the living room, Louis’ standing by the door hugging his mum. 

His mum looks up and smiles at the three of them. She gives him one last squeeze before letting him and go and stepping around. “Hi, I’m Jay,” she says. 

Louis walks over to Harry and wraps his arm around Harry’s waist. “Mum, this is Harry. And that’s Liam and Zayn.” He points at the boys and squeezes where he’s holding onto Harry. 

Harry does a little wave and smiles sheepishly. “Hi, ma’am. It’s nice to finally meet you. Thank you for coming,” he makes sure to add. 

Jay rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to call me ma’am. Just Jay is fine.” She walks over and pulls Harry into a hug. Harry freezes a bit, but quickly wraps his arms around her and hugs her back. When she pulls away, she turns to Louis and says, “He’s a lovely one, Lou. Don’t let him go.” 

Louis just shakes his head and pulls Harry closer to him, smiles brightly. “No, I don’t plan on it.” 

 

They get dinner that night at one of Louis’ favorite restaurants, some Italian place that usually stay away from because it’s too expensive. Zayn and Liam go to Liam’s, since Jay will be sleeping in their room, so it’s just the three of them. Louis gets some pasta dish that has steak in it and Harry keeps taking bites of it when he thinks Louis isn’t watching. 

“Sorry the girls couldn’t come,” Jay says once she’s finished eating. “I didn’t want to pull them out of school.” 

“That’s alright. We’ll have to go up there some time, then. Maybe when H finishes up this semester we could.” 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, I think. The girls would love that. They’d definitely love your curls,” Jay says with a smile. 

Louis smiles, too, and runs his fingers through Harry’s hair. “Who wouldn’t love his curls?” Harry burrows into Louis’ side and turns his face into Louis’ neck as he blushes. 

“Aw, so cute,” Jay coos. “So, where do your parents live, Harry? Maybe we could all get together when you guys decide to come up.”

Harry pushes his face further into Louis’ neck, his face hot for a different reason now, and feels Louis’ hand tighten in his hair. “Uhh,” Louis starts but trails off when he can’t really come up with something to say. 

“‘S okay,” Harry whispers to Louis, then kisses his shoulder and pulls away, looks at Jay. “I don’t really have a family. So, maybe not do that.” 

“Oh,” Jay says and furrows her brows. She smiles brightly after a moment and reaches across the table to grab Harry’s hand. “You do now, yeah?” 

Harry smiles at her and then looks over at Louis who’s positively beaming. “Thank you,” he murmurs quietly before turning back to Jay and saying, “Thank you,” again. 

 

Jay only stays till the next evening, but it feels like days to Harry. The thing is he _likes_ her and he doesn’t really know how to handle that, doesn’t really know how to act. He’s so nervous that he ends up just being really awkward and weird. He apologizes way too much, for things that really aren’t his fault, like Zayn leaving his book in the bed and Louis leaving his shoes in the hallway, which she trips over. It’s just awkward and he’s uncomfortable because she’s very much a mum and in some ways that reminds him of his mum.

When she leaves, Harry’s relieved and feels horribly guilty about it. Louis just reassures him that he did fine and his mum loved him. Harry knows she did, especially since she basically welcomed him into the family, but he still feels bad and a little stupid for being so weird. Louis doesn’t think it’s a big deal, though, tells him it’s part of his charm. Harry’s glad he got to meet her, he really is, and he’s definitely glad it wasn’t at her house because he knows that would be way too overwhelming. Even though it was weird and awkward, he’s happy, really happy. 

***

“Are you sure this is okay?” Zayn asks as he reaches under the bed to grab his comic books. “I really don’t mind staying.” 

Harry shakes his head and finishes putting Zayn’s clothes in the box in front of him. “Nah, it’s fine. You’ve already stayed a month later than you had planned and I don’t want to keep pressing back your move in date. I’m sure you guys want your privacy,” he says and waggles his eyebrows. 

“I don’t care, though. I’ll stay if you want me to.” He heaves himself up from the floor and stacks all of his comics into a neat pile before sticking them in a box. 

“It’s fine, Zayn, I don’t mind. You’re only five minutes away, so if I need anything you’ll be right here. Plus, it’s not like you won’t still be over here all the time.” 

“True,” Zayn agrees and tapes up his box. He stacks the box Harry was filling on top of it and zips up his backpack. He walks over to Harry and pulls him into a hug, kisses his cheek. “I love you, yeah? I’ll always be here. Whenever you need.” 

Harry pulls back and rolls his eyes. “I love you, too. And I _know_. Stop acting like you’re moving to Australia. Literally nothing is going to change except for the bed you sleep in.” He pats Zayn’s cheeks and then walks out of his room. 

“Are you gonna help us move the boxes over to Li’s?”

“No,” Harry calls from the hallway. “I have to take Louis to the dentist.”

**Author's Note:**

> [erikabearikuh](http://erikabearikuh.tumblr.com) on tumblr.  
>  Thanks for reading!


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